I've had a passing knowledge of the artworks owned by the Journal Sentinel from simply spotting them in hallways and meeting rooms over the years. But while digging into our archives in preparation for some visitors, I discovered a half-forgotten history about how the company I work for has supported Wisconsin artists, what the local press for years used to call "Badger artists."

When the building opened in 1924, the Milwaukee Journal opened an art gallery on the second floor with big leather couches and fringed lamps. It was described in news clippings from the 1920s through the '80s as the only art gallery run by a newspaper in America or the world. | April 4, 2014»Read Full Article(3)

For Ted Nugent, there's no such thing as bad publicity — at least in Wisconsin.

The Detroit-born rock star encountered bad concert karma this week. A Native American tribe in Idaho canceled an August show he planned at its casino, citing his "racist and hate-filled remarks" as cause for concern. Soon afterward, a Washington casino followed suit, canceling two August shows for the same reason. | July 25, 2014»Read Full Article(108)

Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in disgrace over the Watergate scandal forty years ago this coming Aug. 8.

And if you're of a certain age you, like me, were sitting in front of the television set watching his resignation speech. Just as we sat riveted to the hearings preceding it. | July 25, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

True to her reputation for dramatic openers, Amy Bloom begins "Lucky Us," her first novel in seven years, like this: "My father's wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what's in it for us."

It's a breezy and funny beginning, from a writer who has always had a wicked sense of humor. But the mood soon alters: The speaker — 12-year-old Eva Acton — learns that what Mom really wants to see is what's in this death for her. She dumps Eva on the grieving Edgar — father to both the illegitimate Eva and the legitimate, 16-year-old Iris — and disappears, except for a brief cameo late in the novel. | July 25, 2014»Read Full Article

Warm, fresh-baked bread is bound to be good. But some bread is better than others, like the sesame naan at Kabana Grill on the south side.

Crisp and light, bubbled from the intense heat of the tandoor oven, this particular bread (called roghni, or tilwala, $1.99) made me think "Oh, that bread!" on the drive home. | July 25, 2014»Read Full Article(1)